THANKFUL THURSDAY

John Paul Bobo

(February 14, 1943 – March 30, 1967) was a United States Marine Corps second lieutenant who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam in March 1967.

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Biography
John Paul Bobo was born on February 14, 1943 in Niagara Falls, New York. He attended Bishop Duffy High School,now Niagara Catholic High School where he is today distinguished as an honored alum. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on May 28, 1965 in Buffalo, New York, while attending Niagara University. Then he received a B.A. Degree in History from the University in June 1965 and was commissioned a Marine Corps Reserve second lieutenant on December 17, 1965.

Second Lieutenant Bobo completed the Officer Candidate Course, The Basic School, Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, in May 1966.

Following graduation, he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam. There he was assigned duty as platoon commander, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. While serving in this capacity, he was mortally wounded while firing his weapon into the mainpoint of the enemy attack on March 30, 1967. He was 24 years old.

He is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Lewiston, New York.

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Medal of Honor citation
The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

SECOND LIEUTENANT JOHN P. BOBO
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

    For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Weapons Platoon Commander, Company I, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division, in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 30 March 1967. 

Company I was establishing night ambush sites when the command group was attacked by a reinforced North Vietnamese company supported by heavy automatic weapons and mortar fire. Lieutenant Bobo immediately organized a hasty defense and moved from position to position encouraging the outnumbered Marines despite the murderous enemy fire. Recovering a rocket launcher from among the friendly casualties, he organized a new launcher team and directed its fire into the enemy machine gun position. 

When an exploding enemy mortar round severed Lieutenant Bobo's right leg below the knee, he refused to be evacuated and insisted upon being placed in a firing position to cover the movement of the command group to a better location. With a web belt around his leg serving as tourniquet and with his leg jammed into the dirt to curtail the bleeding, he remained in this position and delivered devastating fire into the ranks of the enemy attempting to overrun the Marines. 

Lieutenant Bobo was mortally wounded while firing his weapon into the mainpoint of the enemy attack but his valiant spirit inspired his men to heroic efforts, and his tenacious stand enabled the command group to gain a protective position where it repulsed the enemy onslaught. Lieutenant Bobo's superb leadership, dauntless courage, and bold initiative reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
/S/LYNDON B. JOHNSON

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Awards and honors

2nd Lieutenant Bobo's awards include:

The U.S. Navy has three classes of ships in its Marine Prepositioning Fleet — the newest class, which were built by General Dynamics and delivered to Military Sealift Command in the mid-1980s, are named the 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo Class. The lead ship of this class is the 673-foot (205 m) long maritime prepositioning ship USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo. Since 1985, the ship had been under long-term lease to Military Sealift Command from American Overseas Marine. On January 16, 2007, the Military Sealift Command purchased the 673-foot (205 m) maritime prepositioning ship, USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo.

The chow hall at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia is named Bobo Hall in his honor.

John Bobo's name is etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Panel 17E, Row 070.